Why Eufy's X10 Pro Omni is the most surprising robot vacuum I've tested all year

We can talk about decision fatigue in the context of buying robot vacuums on the buyer's end all day, but let's consider an equally fatiguing decision experienced by me: a professional robot vacuum reviewer constantly being asked, "Which robot vacuum should I get?"

After testing over 20 robot vacuums in the past five years, I can totally rattle off recommendations easily to someone, but only after I've also asked them a million questions. Mostly, I need to know whether they care more about budget, the thorough cleaning itself, or a true hands-off cleaning experience.

But when I got my hands on the Eufy X10 Pro Omni soon after it came out at CES 2024 in January, I quickly realized I might just have a new catchall answer to that big, general robot vacuum question — or at least a recommendation that meets goals of people who prioritize getting a bang for their buck and people who prioritize doing as little work as possible on their end.

Why the Eufy X10 Pro Omni is so impressive on paper

Over the past two-ish years, two robot vacuum features, in particular, have emerged to set the premium robot vacuums apart from the entry-level ones. They are AI-powered small obstacle avoidance technology and self-washing and drying mopping pads. Not only did Eufy bravely attempt both of them without severely hiking the price tag to match, but both features are actually pretty competent — I wouldn't have been surprised if a cheap robovac talking this fancy talk couldn't actually walk the walk.

If you really care about the automation aspect of a robot vacuum, those two convenience-related features are reason to choose the X10 Pro Omni over similarly-priced hybrid models like the Roomba Combo j7+ or Roborock Q8 Max+, which still require you to manually handle the mopping pads and refill the water tank after each use or two.

Maintenance: I simply love not touching soggy mopping pads

Past automatic emptying, which is more common than not for a robot vacuum to have these days, the Eufy X10 Pro Omni's dock also automatically washes and dries its two mopping pads after each use. Its dock also has two large water tanks: one with clean water that refills the smaller water tank onboard the vacuum and a dirty water one that holds whatever's wrung out of the mopping pads after each use. Refilling the clean water tank and dumping the dirty water are only required every few weeks, depending on mopping frequency and intensity. I mopped my kitchen and bathroom several times a week for four-ish months and only had to deal with the tanks a couple of times.

I have thought about the mopping pads 100 percent fewer times. The Omni X10 Pro's dock deals with them completely, washing them and then drying them with hot air to prevent that moldy wet fabric smell. You know, the exact one that I have to be near when testing a 2-in-1 robot vacuum that needs its mopping pads to be removed and washed by hand. That level of effort (and grossness) is enough to make me want to skip mopping altogether, so I think that the self-cleaning mopping pad system is actually pretty crucial for getting your money's worth out of the mop part.

The self-empty dust bag in the dock lasts even longer than the water tanks. The Eufy X10 Pro Omni vacuumed various floors in my homes almost every other day from mid-May to mid-September, and I didn't get a "full" notification until the end of that period.

Cleaning performance: Not always spotless, but satisfactory

Allegedly, the X10 Pro Omni dishes out 8,000 Pa of suction power — pretty high compared to the market leading 10,000 Pa seen on a few Roborock models or the alleged 11,000 Pa seen on a Yeedi model. Compared to other robot vacuums in this price range, 8,000 Pa kicks ass — on paper.

But comparing cleaning prowess based on that one suction power metric alone is kind of a moot point when not every robot vacuum brand even measures suction power in Pascals. (iRobot and Shark are the two big ones that don't.) The real test is simply how much the botvac sucks up in real life.

In my testing, the Eufy X10 Pro Omni's suction power was strong enough to pick up about 90 percent of the dry debris I threw at it on hardwood, and was about 80 percent successful at pulling hair and rice from a medium pile rug. It's not the level of thoroughness I'd achieve when taking my Dyson out for a spin, but I felt comfortable letting the Eufy X10 Pro Omni take care of the random crumbs that show up in the kitchen, as well as kitty litter in my bathroom.

The few occasions when some debris around the edges was left behind taught me to always opt for two cleaning passes instead of one and either turbo or max suction (the strongest two out of the four).

The X10 Pro Omni's mopping performance has a similar story: It's absolutely reliable enough for keeping hard floors nice and shiny on a daily basis, especially if you're even less likely to mop or Swiffer by hand than you are to vacuum. I can almost always tell the difference in stain visibility when a hybrid robot vacuum mops with one flat pad or two spinning pads, as the latter just seems to be more robust — less wiping, more scrubbing. I felt like I could trust the X10 Pro Omni's dual pad situation enough to thoroughly spot clean a marinara sauce or wine spill before the cats could get to it.

There were a few instances where two passes and one of the higher water intensities were necessary, like a spot where I spilled sesame oil — just one single light pass left the hardwood feeling greasy. I also noticed that the shoe stains by the front door aren't completely gone after the X10 Pro Omni has attempted them on a few occasions, but then again, every 2-in-1 robot vacuum struggles with those.

User friendliness and navigation: The X10 Pro Omni assimilates pretty easily

Much of the robot vacuum experience comes from how seamless of an addition it is to your home and lifestyle. In this regard, the Eufy X10 Pro is overall a pretty polite house guest.

Its long battery life (over two hours of cleaning on one charge) means that I can comfortably queue up my "two passes for good measure" task in multiple rooms without it having to pause and charge in between. Though those extra passes might take a few extra minutes, the X10 Pro Omni isn't unbearably loud, even on max suction. The automatic emptying roar isn't so demure, but it's not a huge deal.

But for me, the main criterion that makes a robot vacuum a polite house guest is whether or not it continually navigates to the right spot without getting lost or stuck. The X10 Pro Omni whipped up a very accurate map of my home on the first try, only requiring me to split one room (many robot vacs I test think that, like, four rooms are the same room). I only experienced the X10 Pro Omni being unable to figure out its position and returning to the dock during a handful of cleaning sessions, but queuing it up again does the trick.

As long as it's not unable to complete a task because it's physically stuck, I'm pretty satisfied. The X10 Pro Omni carves around table and chair legs with ease, finding the perfect angle to scoot around rather than giving up and sitting there. My favorite part? It hasn't eaten any cords or socks (though my cat's shoelace toy did have to be untangled from below).

Downsides: My one major gripe feels so fixable

Unfortunately, the X10 Pro Omni's obstacle avoidance technique is also the source of my main complaint. It's so cautious about not sucking up rogue pieces of laundry that it mistakes the fluffy bath mat in front of my shower as a piece of laundry to avoid. Every single time. That wouldn't be so annoying if there was an option to ignore an incorrectly-identified obstacle like several other robot vacuum apps offer, but there's no way to do that on Eufy's app. Shouldn't the AI powering the obstacle recognition want to learn and adjust?

This means that I have to move that rug out of the bathroom ahead of a cleaning. However, I've learned to do that with all small rugs regardless, because if the X10 Pro Omni actually does attempt to vacuum a rug, it turns up the corners and jumbles it all around. It even has a hard time gently hoisting itself over the edges my large low pile living room rug and kitchen runner.

Is the Eufy X10 Pro Omni worth it?

The Eufy X10 Pro Omni doesn't do... anything perfectly (does any robot vacuum?), but it cleans, navigates, and maintains itself competently enough to make it a front runner over a ton of older hybrid vacuums. Specifically, the X10 Pro Omni is the better value over any hybrid model that isn't equipped with those two game-changing features: small obstacle avoidance technology and self-cleaning mopping pads.

I won't pretend that there aren't some performance and navigational quirks that'll need some getting used to, but for the price, the X10 Pro Omni covers all of the bases necessary to make your day-to-day a lot easier. If you're still iffy, look for it during October Prime Day — that $599.99 sale price is impossible to argue with.